thumb|300px|[[Amaterasu emerges from the cave.]]

Japanese mythology is a collection of traditional stories, folktales, and beliefs that emerged in the islands of the Japanese archipelago. Shinto traditions are the cornerstones of Japanese mythology. The history of thousands of years of contact with Chinese and various Indian myths (such as Buddhist and Hindu mythology) are also key influences in Japanese religious belief.

Japanese myths are tied to the topography of the archipelago as well as agriculturally-based folk religion, and the Shinto pantheon holds uncountable kami ("god(s)" or "spirits"). Additionally, the Shintōshū describes the origins of Japanese deities from a Buddhist perspective.

One notable feature of Japanese mythology is its explanation of the origin of the Imperial Family, which has been used historically to deify to the imperial line. For much of Japan's history, communities were mostly isolated, which allowed for local legends and myths to grow around unique features of the geographic location where the people who told the stories lived. Izanagi and Izanami were eventually born, siblings, and using a naginata decorated with jewels, named Ame-no-nuhoko ("Heavenly Jeweled Spear") that was gifted to them. Izanagi created the first islands of the Japanese Archipelago by dipping the Naginata into the primordial waters. The last child that Izanami produces is a fire god, Kagutsuchi (incarnation of fire), whose flames kill her; and Izanagi murders the child in grief-driven anger.

Scholars of Japanese mythology have noted the incestuous themes of the creation myth as represented in the Kojiki, and the first scholar to write about Izanagi and Izanami as siblings was Oka Masao. Izanami is referred to in the Kojiki as Izanagi's imo (meaning both wife or little sister in Japanese) and other scholars dispute that the pair were siblings. It would take the combined efforts of many other kami, and the erotic dance of a particular goddess named Ame no Uzume, to lure Amaterasu from the cave again. After taking control of Yamato province, he established the imperial throne and acceded in the year of kanototori (conventionally dated to 660 B.C.).

The Japanese pantheon

Japanese gods and goddesses, called kami, are uniquely numerous (there are at least eight million) and varied in power and stature.

Themes that appear in the folklore concerning heroes are moral lessons, or stories that function as parables. The tale of Shita-kiri Suzume, for example, warns of the dangers of greed, avarice, and jealousy through the example of an old couple's experiences with a fairy who disguised herself as a sparrow to test the old man. Stories of sexual violence are common in the Buddhist text Nihon ryōiki, while stories of people being devoured by mountain deities are found as if they are historical accounts in the fudoki.

See also

  • Ainu mythology
  • Japanese Buddhism
  • Japanese folklore
  • Japanese urban legends
  • Kami
  • Kamui
  • Kuni-yuzuri
  • List of Japanese deities
  • Seven Lucky Gods
  • Hōsōshin demon
  • Shinto
  • Yokai
  • Yurei
  • Kaiju

Spelling of proper nouns

References

  • Romance stories from old Japan, pre-1919—Free to read and full-text search.
  • A Multilingual Electronic Text Collection of Folk Tales for Casual Users Using Off-the-Shelf Browsers